Insomnium - Across The Dark (2009)

“Across The Dark” marks the fourth full-length album of these Finish melodic Death Metal band. And as expected based on their previous releases this new album is close to perfection. Being delayed from release a couple of times this was one of the most anticipated albums on my list.

The music presented in “Across The Dark” is one of the best I’ve heard this summer in the melodic Death Metal genre. The band manages to create a very depressing, and at the same time, melodic atmosphere that is rare to find this days. For the whole duration of the album the listener is guided into a journey across the dark.

The ‘doomy’ elements of this release make it a lot more appealing since it mixes the two genres that I like the most. The deep growls are also slower than in average melodic DM, but they perfectly fit the overall atmosphere created by the band. The whole emotional aspect of the band’s music takes into reality the lyric of this album.

This group of finish musicians has been releasing very consistent albums throughout the years but I think they have achieved their best album so far with “Across The Dark”. The mournful guitar work is excellent and it goes perfectly with the bass guitar line provided by the also vocalist Niilo Sevänen. The drumming is very tight and marks the changes of pace in the music from slower parts to faster sections with great precision and a perfect timing. You can clearly see that the musicians in this band have been playing together for several years and are able to compose music of the highest quality.

The only thing that threw me off on this album is the use of clean vocals in one song, since they sound very out of place and just plain weird. However they are provided by Jules from Profane Omen, and it looks like they are just a guest appearance so I will let the band slide this time. Hopefully they do not use this type of vocals again.

There are keyboards provided by Aleksi Munter from Swallow The Sun and you can clearly see those influences in his sections, making this album even more awesome, and if you needed another reason to buy this release now you have it. Overall this album is on my top 10 albums of the year, since the band manages to achieve a masterful opus of highly emotional melodic DM.

Release: September 22, 2009

Country: Finland